This month, Lesley Jackson was in conversation with Jiu Jitsu expert Hans-Erik Petermann, author of ‘Jiu Jitsu: the essential guide to mastering the art.’
This month, Lesley Jackson was in conversation with Jiu Jitsu expert Hans-Erik Petermann, author of ‘Jiu Jitsu: the essential guide to mastering the art.’
Hans-Erik’s need to learn a martial art began when he was a child as, "I was bullied a lot when I was at school plus I was shot by neighbourhood thugs when I was ten years old. It was not a bad neighbourhood, standard middle class, but Cape Town is one of the world’s worst cities for violent crime. It is also one of the most beautiful." He did not let being immersed in such a tough environment get him down as he firstly took up Judo as a child. However, despite Judo being a great sport, when Hans-Erik needed it in a confrontation he found, "the first time I tried using my Judo techniques I was punched in the face." As unfortunately, "You are obviously assuming that your opponent will react in the approved Judo manner in that he will let you get a grip and will respond in kind." Therefore, it was to Jiu Jitsu that Hans-Erik turned to in order to, "functionalise Judo for combat purposes." Learning Jiu Jitsu
When Hans-Erik and his friend started learning Jiu Jitsu it was not initially from a Japanese master in a specially designed dojo rather, "in his basement on old mattresses, combining our Judo with strikes, holds and locks as shown in old Jiu Jitsu manuals we picked up in charity and second hand bookshops." Again, it was the need to learn and adapt various martial arts techniques for practical purposes that Hans-Erik honed his wide and effective Jiu Jitsu style. He is very complementary in his regard for other martial artists, an example being one of his Jiu Jitsu teachers called Harry Snowise who is another example of a martial artist born out of practicality rather than demonstration as Hans-Erik describes him as, "A mentor of mine since I met him in my late teens, Harry fought for Israel in the fifties, as a mercenary in the Congo in the sixties and was a well known debt collector and doorman in the seventies and eighties. All this and at only about 120 pounds bodyweight he is scrawny, harmless looking, but deadly."
Although Hans-Erik is a man of large stature, his description of his Jiu Jitsu mentor shows that Jiu Jitsu is a martial art that anyone can practise, including eight stone weaklings such as myself and dispels the myth I held that you have to be big and strong to succeed in it. Hans-Erik illustrates, "the beauty of Jiu Jitsu, especially of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, is that it is an art in which positioning, sensitivity and leverage can allow you to defeat a less skilled and larger opponent. In theory, a technically superior lightweight boxer should be able to defeat a heavyweight and yet this never happens in practise. At Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and submission grappling events, practitioners sometimes compete and win in weight classes way above their own. BJ Penn would be a recent example."Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
In addition to his own, more personal style of Jiu Jitsu, Hans-Erik is a keen exponent of the Brazilian style that is often used in Mixed Martial Arts contests. Even though he describes himself as a, "mere blue belt" he was graded by the great Roger Gracie, part of the Gracie family, who are to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu as the Schumacher’s are to Formula One. Hans-Erik started with Brazilian Jiu Jitsu when, "the Brazilian Consul in Cape Town, who was a twenty year BJJ practitioner, was looking for practise partners and one of my friends and myself trained with him. For the next couple of years we trained for an average of three-two hour sessions per week in mostly basics and rolling, which is the principle of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu sparring. After that I was again very lucky as I was able to learn more about grappling principles from my friend Ludwig Strydom, who has fought in Mixed Martial Arts bouts both locally and internationally and is a creative martial arts genius." Hans-Erik sums up his enjoyment of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu as playing, "physical chess" as he weaves his way around the manoeuvres of this adaptable grappling art.
Whilst amassing his wide application of Jiu Jitsu, Hans-Erik worked in the security field as a doorman in Cape Town. On many occasions he had need to apply his knowledge as he, "developed a great liking and some skill in clinching and the clinch range." He describes his familiarity of the clinch as, "home for me. Even today there’s a feeling of ‘here we are again’, of settling in, of putting on an old and familiar pair of slippers." During his work as a doorman, he would use the clinch which, "would often lead to controlling techniques taken from Jiu Jitsu and would lead to the eviction of the trouble-maker." With also adding Muay Thai and Greco Roman techniques to his practical application of his martial arts, Hans-Erik must have been quite a force to be reckoned with when faced with any troublesome customers.Training Tips
When offering advice to our Martial Edge readers in their training, he says, "Define precisely what you are trying to achieve." As Hans-Erik’s approach to martial arts is very practical and based on real experiences, he was perturbed when watching a recent WTF Taekwondo championship as although he was, "impressed by the athleticism and enthusiasm of some of the competitors, some of their habits, such as letting their arms dangle freely at their sides whilst ‘fighting’, had me horrified." He describes his experience of WTF Taekwondo as, "a great sport but disastrous preparation if one is thinking of developing self defence abilities." He therefore stresses that, "training has to be specific so as to achieve specific goals." Be they sport or self defence oriented. However, as serious as your goals and approach to your chosen martial art must be you should, "do something that is fun for you." As Hans-Erik asserts, "At 47, if I don’t enjoy doing something, I don’t do it. That’s the criterion." Lastly, he advises that you have a choice in who you have teaching you. As a potential consumer of the martial arts you need to ask of your instructor, "Are they in decent shape? Do they smoke or drink excessively." After all, "this is not the Shaolin temple, grasshopper, it’s the twenty- first century and we are critically thinking Westerners." And as such, we have the choice to whom we pay our training fees to!
Of course, as well as being a hugely experienced martial artist, Hans-Erik is also a writer and this is where he would like to concentrate some of his efforts as he is, "looking to upgrade myself from ‘published author’ to ‘published best selling author.’" Therefore, enabling him to retire early, watch his two children grow up and being able to, "inhabit a fit, vibrantly healthy body at any age." And enjoy one of his favourite dishes of sushi which he describes as, "always a thing of beauty!"
If ever you happen to find yourself in a spot of bother, then Hans-Erik Petermann is someone you definitely want watching your back. Not only is this man from South Africa nearly two metres tall and 115 kilos of solid muscle, he is an extremely experienced practitioner of Jiu Jitsu, both in teaching and in practical terms. Ah yes, he also has another five years security experience working as a doorman in the bars and night-spots of Cape Town’s harbour area, a place that would make even the toughest parts of a British city seem like a cordial trip to Toyland.
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